


You Can Tell Me Anything

by ChibiYoda



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domesticity, Established Relationship, M/M, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, This Is My Ship and It Has Wrecked Me, a touch of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-28 21:29:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7657414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiYoda/pseuds/ChibiYoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony has an unusual request he'd like to present to Bruce, while Bruce has a unique problem he'd rather not admit to Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can Tell Me Anything

**Author's Note:**

> This is a blend of two modified prompts, so I really can't call it a fill for either.

One of the many perks that Bruce and Tony's relationship gifted them with was the ability to get a good night's sleep. Many people wouldn't consider this particularly remarkable. But to two men who were plagued with mental theater presenting them with angry, frightful tales most nights, it was an extraordinary accomplishment. Not every night permitted sleep-filled bliss, but the number was steadily increasing.

Lately though, Bruce's momentum seemed to be faltering. So when he jolted awake, heart racing, for the second time in as many days, Tony became concerned. Tonight included the added bonus of Bruce frantically reaching over to clutch his shirt. "You ok?" he whispered in the darkness.

Bruce felt guilty for disturbing him yet again. "Yeah, I'm good." Embarrassed to find that that he was hanging on to the garment, he gingerly released his grip on it.

Tony knew Bruce was fretting. He didn't want to further aggravate his mood, but wanted to at least throw him a lifeline. "As much as I like it when you get grabby with me, this isn't exactly what I had in mind. You wanna talk about it?"

Bruce actually did. But he was stumped as to how to do it, coupled with the uncertainty of whether he even should to begin with. "It's nothing. I thought I heard a noise. I'm sorry I woke you." He hoped the lack of light would mask the fake grin he plastered on his face.

There really wasn't much Tony could do but take him at his word. He watched Bruce roll onto his back and stare at the ceiling. That was his cue that there would be no more discussion for tonight. With no other choice, Tony went back to sleep.

 

***

 

The boys had been tooling around in the lab for hours. Par for the course. But while Bruce seemed to be making progress with his project, Tony was going nowhere with his own. He let out the loudest sigh that he could muster, in hopes of getting Bruce's attention.

Mission accomplished, as Bruce answered the request from across the room. "Everything all right over there?"

Looking at the big picture, yes. Everything was all right. Things had progressively become more and more right since he and Bruce became a thing. They're months into this now. Getting close to a year. Bruce was everything he could possibly want. He was filling needs in him that Tony was unaware he even had.

And recently, Tony had been toying with the idea of approaching Bruce with a need that he was all too aware that he had. He rolled his chair over to Bruce's table. "So I've been thinking about something."

"That's nothing new." Bruce muttered, as he flipped through some papers.

Tony huffed. "True. But this particular proposition is. New. Well, not new to me. But new to you."

It was clear to Bruce that Tony had something on his mind. He took off his glasses and gave Tony his full attention. "I'm all ears."

Tony considered scrapping the idea for now, citing Bruce's recent trouble sleeping as an excuse. That was a common thing when they first got together, but it had consistently improved to the point where a restless sleep became the exception instead of the norm. Tony felt that something was up, but Bruce hadn't been eager to talk. Everything else was fine and dandy, so Tony hadn't pressured. Bruce would talk when he was ready.

He supposed he could always find some rationalization to talk himself out of it. So he asked himself, if not now, then when? He took a breath. "Well, you see, I was wondering if you'd do something for me. I mean, it's not super important, but it's a little important.

Bruce's eyes narrowed. "Normally I would say 'anything for you', but by the way you're waffling, I feel I should add the caveat 'within reason'."

Tony pursed his lips. "I'm not waffling. But now that you mention it, waffles sound really good. We should get some later."

"That can be arranged." Bruce nodded. "But first you need to tell me what's on your mind."

Rolling his seat back and forth a little, Tony began. "See, I kind of have this idea I'd like to try out, but I don't want you to think I'm weird."

In an effort to try to put the other man at ease, as well as prove a point, Bruce chimed in. "Is this some crazy sex-thing again? Cuz if you recall, that last position you were gung-ho about testing nearly broke my back." Pausing briefly he added, "But I was willing to try, wasn't I?"

"You were a trooper." Tony smirked. "Ok. So, being a brilliant inventor, businessman and superhero is a blast. It is. I enjoy being at the top of my game, and being busy, and taking care of this box of abandoned puppies that Fury dumped on me. Seriously, I don't know how all of you survived so long without me." Tony threw his hands up exaggeratedly.

"I can't speak for the others, but for my part, you're right. I was surviving. Now I'm living."

Bruce had an uncanny ability to render Tony speechless using only a handful of subtle but powerful words. Hulk notwithstanding, this was also one of his superpowers.

Being reminded just how great a guy Bruce is, Tony gathered his courage. He knows he can tell Bruce anything. Even if he doesn't agree, Bruce will give honest consideration to whatever Tony says.

He smiled a thank you to his partner, then went on. "There are times when I don't feel like juggling the balls. I don't want to be in charge. I don't want to make the decisions. I want to hand the reigns to someone else for a while."

Bruce saw nothing wrong with that. "If you want to take a vacation, it's certainly not an unreasonable request. You've never been apprehensive about going away before. Why now?"

Tony shook his head. "I didn't mean go on vacation. I meant hand over the reigns, literally." He gave himself one more chance to back out. After that second passed, he soldiered on. "You told me the story of the red string of fate. It's a beautiful idea. Really. I love that you believe in it, and got me to believe, too. But sometimes I need something a little more tangible."

Puzzled, Bruce canted his head. "I don't follow."

Tony locked eyes with him for a moment, steeling his nerve. Then he determinedly walked back to his workspace, unlocked a drawer, and took something out. He moved a little more slowly on his way back to Bruce, trying choose which of his well rehearsed statements he was going to use. But by the time he was standing in front of him Tony had forgotten his lines, and simply handed the items to Bruce.

The first appeared to Bruce to be some kind of cuff. A couple of inches wide, and made of soft brown leather. A thin quilted material lined the inside. For cushion, Bruce supposed. Aside from two snaps to connect the ends together, the only adornment was a single gold ring. The piece seemed way too small to be a dog collar, except possibly for a chihuahua. Bruce highly doubted that was where this train was headed.

The other item was made of similar brown leather. Bruce uncoiled it. He estimated it to be around six feet long. One end had a loop. A handle, most likely. There was a clasp at the other end. Probably meant to attach to the ring on the cuff. After his cursory examination of the finely crafted items, he turned his attention back to Tony.

"What it all boils down to is..." Tony gathered his thoughts. "Sometimes I don't want to think. I just want to be. But in order to do that, I need to let someone else do the thinking for me." He took the cuff from Bruce and secured it around his wrist, then the companion piece, and connected it to the ring. He held on to the handle for a moment, vacillating between now or never, before offering it to Bruce.

"I'm not sure I completely understand." Bruce had any number of scenarios drifting through his mind as he tentatively accepted.

"I'm not asking to go for a stroll in the park, or out to dinner, or anyplace public for that matter. Just once in a while, when you're hanging out in the lab or relaxing with a book, maybe you could call the shots for me for a while." A thin smile appeared below hopeful eyes.

Bruce really had no idea what to make of this. "Is this something you've done in the past?" He tried to imagine Pepper or even Jim leading Tony around on a leash. He couldn't picture it at all.

Tony shook his head. "Nope. Never had a need to. Never felt like this before." He shrugged. "Just as well. I don't think anyone would have really understood."

Bruce wanted to understand. For Tony's sake. Even though he was unsure about it, he didn't want to let Tony down.

Tony could almost see Bruce's brain trying to make sense of the proposal. "It's not a big deal. You don't have to..."

Tony reached for the end of the lead in Bruce's hand, but Bruce pulled it to his chest. "No. It's ok." He nodded absently. "I'll figure it out."

A wave of relief swept over Tony.

 

That night, Bruce lay awake next to a quite soundly sleeping Tony. Tonight he could blame his uneasiness on a restless mind working overtime thinking about how this new aspect of their relationship was going to play out.

 

The next morning they ran a through a practice session. More for Bruce's sake than Tony's. Bruce wanted to get a feel for what it was going to be like to have Tony on a 'leash'. God, he hated that term for it. Tony wasn't some untrained animal that could wander into traffic. Bruce settled on 'lead' for the time being.

He was sitting at a table in the lab, lost in his science, when Tony suddenly appeared next to him. He honestly had no clue as to how long the man had been standing there. When Bruce acknowledged him, Tony wordlessly held out his arm. And there was the cuff. Bruce knew that was his cue. He reached into a nearby drawer, and retrieved the lead. He glanced up at Tony, who remained expressionless. Bruce took a deep breath, and made the connection.

And now he was at a loss. 

What exactly was he supposed to do next? Tony was not dropping out of character, so he was no help. He just stood there, waiting on Bruce. He assumed Tony would stand there all day if Bruce didn't give him some sort of signal or instruction. That wouldn't do. It was already starting to creep Bruce out a little, though only a few minutes had passed. He doesn't think he's ever been in Tony's presence this long without the engineer making some kind of noise. Even if it was just a frustrated grunt when something wasn't working properly, or a lively expletive when something worked too well.

This would take some getting used to.

"How about you pull up a chair." Bruce figured it would be more comfortable for both of them.

Tony looked around for the nearest stool. He took a few steps toward it, until he felt the lead become taught, and found that it was just out of reach. He extended his cuffed arm toward Bruce and his free arm out to the stool, stretching as far as he could, but to no avail. He looked to Bruce.

"Sorry." Bruce stood up and leaned forward holding out his controlling arm to give the little bit of slack that Tony needed in order to complete the task.

Tony slid the stool over, and promptly sat.

Bruce checked Tony's face. He caught a slight pursing of his lips for a fraction of a second. What was...oh, he thinks he knows. The 'sorry'. He probably shouldn't have apologized. He's supposed to be in charge. What he says, goes, and whatnot. He was really going to have to butt heads with his normally sympathetic nature if he was going to give Tony what he needed. Good thing this was a practice run.

So Bruce rebounded from his error, put on his game face (rather his best interpretation of what such a face should be) and not knowing what else to do, he returned to what he'd been working on before Tony arrived.

As he lifted his hands to the keyboard in front of him, he realized that he wasn't going to be able to type and hold on to the lead at the same time. He decided to slide the loop around his wrist for now.

And try as he might to concentrate on his research, he could feel Tony's presence off to his side. He was quiet. Too quiet. That made Bruce uneasy. He nonchalantly attempted to peek at Tony out of the corner of his eye, only to be met by Tony's eyes staring right at him. This wouldn't do at all. Bruce would never be able to get anything done if he knows that Tony is staring at him. He's going to have to think up a remedy for this before their first real session.

After a half hour of general uncomfortableness on his part had passed, Bruce decided that sufficient time for their experiment had elapsed. He didn't realize how tense he'd been, hunched over his desk, until he sat back. Rubbing his sore neck, he angled his head toward Tony. "I think I've got a feel for this. We can stop now."

Still silent, Tony held out his wrist to Bruce.

Ah, since Bruce was the one to make the connection, he had to be the one to break it. He unhooked the lead from the cuff.

Immediately Tony's demeanor changed. His previously stoic face turned questioning. "You gonna be ok with this?" He truly had Bruce's best interests at heart. For as much as he wanted this to work, he wouldn't want it at Bruce's expense.

Bruce nodded. "I think so. I've just gotta figure out a couple of things to help the process run more smoothly for both of us." He wound up the lead, and placed it back in his drawer.

Tony unsnapped his cuff and started twirling it around his fingers playfully, so that he didn't have to look at Bruce. "Thanks. I mean it. Thanks for not laughing, and for giving it an honest effort. I know it's awkward for you right now, so I appreciate you giving it a chance. It means a lot to me."

When Tony looked up at him, Bruce saw the sincerity. "Well, you mean a lot to me. I just want you to be happy. And in the grand scheme of things, this really isn't a lot to ask."

 

*

*

*

 

As Tony climbed into bed that evening, Bruce set aside his book and glasses, and turned the light off. He leaned over for a quick kiss.

While he had Bruce's attention, Tony decided to broach another difficult topic. "So, you feel like telling me what's been bothering you lately?"

Bruce knew what Tony was referring to, but since he'd been avoiding talking about it, he wanted to see if he could stall a little longer. "I'm not bothered. I've just been thinking about our new arrangement. I wanna make sure that it accomplishes what you need it to. That's all."

His tactic didn't work.

"Nope. Not what I'm talking about. Though I am appreciative of you giving it so much of your attention. I meant what's been going on before my little pet project. Whatever it is that's been causing you so much distress when we go to bed."

Bruce groaned, then settled onto his back. "It's silly. I don't want to bother you with it."

Tony rolled over and propped himself up on an elbow. "Bruce. Babe. I've recently let you in on the fact that, for all intents and purposes, I find myself in need of a giant time-out from life every now and again and won't you please take charge of me and tell me what to do so that I can check-out for a while cuz I don't have the energy to think and by the way here's the leash I want you to use."

Bruce wrinkled his nose at the leash reference.

Tony waggled his eyebrows. "I told you mine. You can tell me yours." And added earnestly, "I bet I can help you if you give me a chance."

Geez, how could Bruce say no to that? "Fine." He puffed out a breath. "I miss the arc reactor." he stated bluntly.

Tony had a few ideas in mind for what might be troubling Bruce, but that admission didn't even make the list. "Miss it how?" he gently inquired.

"It was my sign. An immediate signal that you were there and fine and alive." Bruce sighed heavily. "During the day I can see for myself that you're ok. You're moving around, talking, laughing. Living. But at night I don't have those instant messages. In the dark, I can't tell if you're ok, or if you're even there sometimes. When I wake up at some odd hour, panicked and disoriented from a nightmare, your light isn't there to reassure me that my dream isn't my reality."

Tony ran a finger back and forth along Bruce's arm. "You've been having nightmares that I'm...not alive?"

Bruce answered with one decisive nod of his head.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea it had thrown you for a loop like this." Tony was moved by Bruce's confession. He knew Bruce loved him, but he was just beginning to discover the depths of that emotion.

"Nothing to be sorry about. You had to get that thing removed from your chest. Your quality of life has vastly improved without it." Bruce reached out his hand and softly circled the area where the mechanism had once been. "I didn't know you before...it...so I'd become accustomed to light equaling life. It's just taking me a while to get used to the change, that's all. I'm ok. Really."

Tony had a hard time piecing together a response. The fact that Bruce needed confirmation of his well-being was jarring to his senses. Tony wasn't accustomed to believing that there were people who cared deeply if his presence was a part of their lives. It's obvious that he and Bruce have something special, but it's a little overwhelming to hear it out loud. "What can I do to help?"

Bruce felt awful for concerning Tony with such a thing. "At first it was hard for me to adjust to having someone in my life again. Now that I have, I want to do everything in my power to keep you safe and make you happy. I'll get used to the night. I just need a little time. I'm sorry I'm being so irrational."

He was fast coming to the conclusion that Bruce was going to continue saying all of these wonderful things to him, and that he was more than all right with it. Tony placed his hand over the one Bruce had rested on his chest. "Any time you're feeling anxious, you let me know. Ok? Wake me up if you need to. I won't mind one bit. I wanna make sure you're safe and happy, too."

 

*

*

*

 

He had nearly forgotten about his and Tony's new arrangement the first time Tony came to the lab, cuff in hand. Or rather, on wrist. It had been a couple of weeks since their dress-rehearsal of sorts. Tony had just returned from a handful of days on the West Coast, and Bruce had been completely caught up in his work the entire time Tony was away. He was no longer obsessing over it, but that didn't change the fact that Bruce was better prepared for opening night.

Bruce was standing at a large display screen. His back was to the lab's entrance, but he could see Tony's reflection approaching. The fact that he could see Tony before he could hear him gave Bruce a few seconds heads-up as to what the visit might be for. Tony came to his side, and silently presented his cuffed arm. Bruce nodded once then headed to his desk, Tony following behind. After gathering up the lead from his drawer, Bruce took a quick moment to assess Tony's aura.

He appeared almost as serene as Bruce has seen him when Tony was asleep. His features gave away absolutely no hint of what he might be thinking. Bruce surmised that Tony must have worked himself into a very particular frame of mind in order to be this docile. He wonders how long it took Tony to achieve it.

Bruce felt he'd thought it out pretty thoroughly, and now it was time to see how Tony would respond to his ideas. He connected the lead to the cuff.

Now if Bruce was doing research at his pc, he'd have no problem slinging Tony's lead over his own wrist, and going about his business. But when he was working, Bruce generally needed to be mobile. He'd briefly considered hooking the lead to one of his belt loops. But having Tony literally attached to his hip didn't seem extremely conducive to his productivity.

He lead Tony to a special area which he'd set up for him. Bruce had put a nondescript desk in a strategic corner. It was visible from every point in the room so that he could always see Tony, as well as be seen by him. He'd affixed a small metal spring link to an edge, to secure the lead to. Though Tony could easily unhook himself in case of emergency, Bruce would never leave him alone while he was cuffed. The point was to give Tony a little peace. Not to abandon him.

Tony silently watched as Bruce pulled open the single drawer on the desk and remove a small stack of items, which he then arranged on top of the desk in three groups. The first was a pad of paper and a pen, then two magazines, and lastly, two books. There was nothing else. No computer or tablet. Nothing electronic. Tony wanted Bruce in control, and Bruce wanted Tony to relax. He knew that to have even a chance of that happening, he'd have to keep Tony away from outside stimuli. Bruce would only allow him access to content that Tony would not normally gravitate to, in an effort to give his mind a break from science, superheroes and shareholders.

Today Bruce offered him a volume of poetry by various authors, a collection of Shakespeare's comedies, and the latest issues of Sports Illustrated and Cosmopolitan. Ok, maybe Bruce was being a little playful with Cosmo, but he bet that Tony could find something entertaining within the pages. Later on Tony would grouse about this and future selections that he'll be given. But Bruce suspected it was mostly for show.

Bruce pulled out the chair a bit, as an invitation for Tony to sit, which he did. Then Bruce returned to his work.

 

During the first hour or so, Bruce must have glanced over at Tony a couple dozen times. In most instances he'd spy Tony flipping through one of the magazines, but more than a few times he found Tony peeking right back at him. Bruce would volunteer a slight smile. Tony would smile right back. He seemed content, which made Bruce's confidence rise.

A fair way into the second hour, Bruce was distracted from his thoughts by a loud huff accompanied by the sound of a sheet of paper being torn from the pad, crumpled up, and tossed to the floor.

Bruce calmly walked over, picked up the paper ball and inspected its contents, while Tony assaulted the next piece of paper with furious pen strokes.

Only giving it a casual review, Bruce concluded that Tony was designing some sort of modification to the arc reactor technology. That was all well and good, but if it was going to cause Tony frustration during his session then Bruce wasn't going to allow it. He unceremoniously plucked the pen from Tony's unsuspecting hand, then removed the sheet of paper that Tony had begun to scribble on, to save it for Tony for later. His charge looked as if he was about to object, but Bruce's carefully raised eyebrow swiftly put a stop to that idea. Deciding he'd let Tony keep the rest of the paper, Bruce went back across the room to attend to his project.

Moments later, a paper airplane sailed past him.

Bruce retrieved the remainder of the paper.

*

*

*

 

"So, what's the big idea of taking my paper away today?" Tony asked between mouthfuls of spaghetti.

Bruce finished cutting a few pieces of bread, placing one on the edge of Tony's plate. "You seemed agitated. I didn't like that."

"But I was working on something cool. You'll love it."

"I'm sure I will, but that's not what's important."

Tony spread a bit of butter on his bread. "Go on."

"You wanted me to be in charge, right? Make all the decisions?" 

When Tony nodded in agreement, Bruce continued. "Well, I want you to relax during these sessions. And the way I see it, the only way to accomplish this is to isolate you from the things that normally consume you...business, avenging, inventing."

"What about you?" Tony smirked. "I'm pretty into you, too."

"I didn't say it was a perfect plan." Bruce twirled some pasta onto his fork. "I'll do my best not to distract you."

"With you strutting around in your lab coat and glasses, all authoritative? Impossible. I'm only human, Bruce."

Bruce rolled his eyes, while secretly enjoying it. He comes to the conclusion that all of his initial concerns had been worked through satisfactorily. Tony doesn't seem to have any serious complaints. This wasn't gonna be so bad.

 

The following day was a hectic one, and Bruce and Tony didn't see each other until a late dinner that evening. After watching the news for a while, and then the opening monologue to one of the late night talk shows for a laugh, they finally made their way to bed.

Upon entering the room it only took Bruce a moment to spot a small box perched on his pillow. He strolled over and picked it up. It wasn't wrapped, but some red and gold ribbon fashioned into a crude bow held it closed. 

"I wonder who this could be from?"

Tony just grinned and batted his eyelashes.

Pulling at the ends of the ribbon didn't work. It had been tied into some kind of indestructible knot that merely resembled a bow. So Bruce slid the whole thing off, and opened the flaps.

Nestled inside was a reproduction of the arc reactor. He examined the device with interest. It seemed about the same size as the original, but not as weighty. It wasn't lit up, and there weren't any wires hanging from it either. He looked quizzically to Tony.

"It's a night light. Solar powered. Charges all day, glows all night." Tony explained proudly. 

It wasn't his birthday, or any sort of special occasion that he could think of, but Bruce was always appreciative of a token of affection. "That's really sweet. Let's try it out. JARVIS? Lights down, please."

As the light dimmed, Bruce moved to place his gift onto his nightstand, but Tony interceded.

"No. That's not where it goes. Gimmie."

Bruce handed it to him, and Tony took it to the other side of the bed. He plopped down on the edge, half-turned toward Bruce, and put the gadget on his own nightstand.

"Now when you wake up during the night, you'll have your signal. When you look for me, I'll be there."

Bruce crawled up onto his side of the bed and sat. Not only was the familiar symbol a comfort, it also cast a soft blue glow over Tony. It was just enough light to be able to make out Tony's features. He knew this was perfect. Bruce was grateful and humbled, and quite frankly, filled with adoration by the gesture. He hoped he always feels this way every time Tony does something special for him. He doesn't ever want to take this man for granted.

 

Eventually they got around to putting their heads down to go to sleep. They snuggled together, Tony playing the part of the little spoon this evening. When he closed his eyes, Tony could sense the light from his gift shining against his lids. He opened his eyes, and stared at his handiwork.

This would take some getting used to.

As Tony thought about it, he realized that this was a slightly modified version of what Bruce had been seeing for all those weeks and months before the operation. And while Tony had found many levels of pain because of the original arc reactor, Bruce had found nothing but comfort in his mechanical disfigurement. 

For a long time it had been the arc reactor that allowed his heart to keep beating.

Now it was a man.

 

Bruce opened an eye, and through a few strands of Tony’s hair he spied the homemade nightlight. His very own beacon to cut through the night. He’s reminded of lighthouses, guiding sailors safely to port. 

He knows he’s home now.


End file.
